Horse abuse pleas likely
Court date set in animal cruelty case
Collierville area horse trainer Jackie McConnell and two co- defendants told a judge through their attorneys Friday that they were ready to enter guilty pleas in the animal cruelty charges they are facing involving more than a halfdozen Tennessee Walking horses.
Circuit Judge Webber McGraw set a June 18 plea date for the three men to return to court at the Bill G. Kelley Criminal Justice Complex in Somerville.
As McConnell, 61, left the courtroom with his wife and several others he told a reporter, “I don’t have any comments.” Afterward, his Somerville attorney David L. Douglas said his client is ready to put this behind him.
McConnel l is charged with 22 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty.
His codefendants, Jeff Dockery, 56, of Collierville, is faci ng three counts of animal cruelty and John K. Mays, 48, of Holly Springs, Miss., has 14 counts of animal cruelty. Both Dockery and Mays worked for McConnell at Whitter Stables in Fayette County, just over the Shelby County line near Collierville. Each count of animal cruelty carries just less than a year in jail.
In 2011, the Humane Society of the United States secretly shot video inside a training stable owned by McConnell showing caustic substances being applied to Tennessee Jackie McConnell Jeff Dockery John K. Mays
walking horses’ legs and hooves and the animals being beaten to make them stand. The soring is meant to create a longer exaggerated stride and gait, which is a more extreme version of what the horses do naturally.
“We believe no plea agreement should be accepted that fails to include a jail sentence,” said Keith Dane, equine protection director of the Washington-based Humane Society.
Dane said McConnell has been disqualified by the U. S. Department of Agriculture numerous times for violating the Horse Protection Act. “This was the first time there was enough evidence to prosecute him criminally. Justice should be served. Violators should suffer consequences.”
Even if the case had gone to trial and his client was found guilty on all 22 counts, Douglas said McConnell would not have faced 22 years in jail. The limit, he said, likely would have been three or four years.
“We anticipate probation,” Douglas said. “The federal prosecutors didn’t ask for jail time because of his age and lack of criminal history.”
In September 2012, McConnell pleaded guilty to felony charges of violating the Horse Protection Act. He received three years probation and a $75,000 fine.
“I think his barn is for sale. He essentially is shutting his barn practice down,” Douglas added. “I think the conditions of any plea will be that he no longer be involved in any horse training or ownership.”
Down a long gravel road leading to Whitter Stables, there was no visible For Sale sign on the property Friday. Two or three horses could be seen behind a padlocked gate with a No Trespassing sign on the entrance.
The indictment alleges that McConnell knowingly tortured a walking horse named Pride’s Mr. Williams by beating the horse on the head with a large wooden club. Another count claims that McConnell used an electric cattle prod on the nose and hind quarters of Field Colt, another walking horse.
Other horses, including Mucho Bueno, Taj Mahal, Master Streaker, Paroled In The Night and Cash Sweep had chemical compounds painted on their legs to make the horse “sore” solely for training the horses to compete in horse shows.
The allegations of animal cruelty occurred on various days in April 2011. Dist. Atty. Gen. Mike Dunavant said one possible condition for probation is that McConnell will be prevented from owning animals in the future.
Regarding the horses that were tortured, Dunavant said, “They were seized when the warrant was executed. They are now in the custody with the Humane Society of the United States.”
Both Douglas and Dunavant said McConnell only owned one of the horses. The rest are owned by private individuals.
Dane said the disposition of the horses has not been determined: “We would like to see them relinquished to us or to someone else.”